Definition

1. Noun:
   • The language into which a text or speech is translated: The "target language" is the language that is the end goal of a translation process. It is the language that a speaker or writer aims to produce or that a translator aims to render a source text into.
   • In computing, the language into which code is translated: In programming and computer science, the "target language" refers to the specific computer language (e.g., machine code, another programming language) that source code is converted into by a compiler or interpreter.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Translation):
  • The translator's native language is French, but her target language for this project is English.
  • When learning a new language, it's helpful to think directly in the target language instead of translating from your native tongue.
• Noun (Computing):
  • The compiler translates the high-level source code into assembly language as its target language.
  • This tool's target language is JavaScript, so it can convert code from several other languages to run in a web browser.

Advanced Usage

• "Target language acquisition": The process of learning and becoming proficient in a new language.
  • Immersion programs are highly effective for target language acquisition.
• "Target language output": The spoken or written language produced by a learner or a translation system.
  • The student's target language output has become much more fluent this semester.

Variants and Related Words

• Source language (n): The original language from which a text is being translated.
  • The translator is working from a Spanish source language into an English target language.

Synonyms

• Destination language: (Less common) The language that is the end point of a translation.
• Output language: (Common in computing and machine translation) The language produced by a translation process.

Related Phrases

• Target language competency: A person's skill level in the language they are learning or translating into.
  • The job requires a high level of target language competency.
• Target language community: The group of people who natively speak the language being learned or translated into.
  • Living abroad helps you integrate into the target language community.

Noun

1. a computer language into which something written in another computer language is to be translated
2. the language into which a text written in another language is to be translated